Baseline Study Report

SANKALPA Collaborative Commitment for Participatory and Gender Responsive Budgets Baseline Study Report Kathmandu August, 2014 Table of contents List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 3 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Background....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Context ............................................................................................................................................ 11 1.3 Objectives of the Baseline Study ................................................................................................ 12 1.4 Scope of the Baseline Study ........................................................................................................ 12 1.5 Organization of the report ............................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2 Study Methodology................................................................................................13 2.1 Baseline Study Design .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2 Study Methods ............................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Quantitative Methods ............................................................................................................. 15 2.2.2 Qualitative Methods ............................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Study Procedure ............................................................................................................................ 16 2.5 Study Approach ............................................................................................................................. 17 2.6 Limitations of the Study ................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 3: Key Study Findings ..............................................................................................19 3.1 Demographic Profile of Respondents ......................................................................................... 19 3.2 Socio-Economic Profile of respondents ..................................................................................... 20 3.3 Local level Planning and Budgeting Procedures ...................................................................... 25 3.4 Local Level Support Mechanism and Structures ...................................................................... 33 3.5 Monitoring and Accountability Arrangements ............................................................................ 37 Chapter 4: Synopsis & Way Forward .....................................................................................41 4.1 Synopsis .......................................................................................................................................... 41 4.2 Key points of consideration .......................................................................................................... 44 4.3 Key Inferences ............................................................................................................................... 46 4.4 Way Forward .................................................................................................................................. 47 References ..............................................................................................................................49 Annex 1. Project Indicators and their baseline status ..........................................................50 Annex - 2. Population Details of project implementation VDCs ..........................................52 Annex - 3. Two Representative Cases (of women who have participated in few activities) ......53 Annex - 4: Tools ......................................................................................................................55 Page | 2 List of Abbreviations CAC Citizen Awareness Center CBO Community Based Organization CBS Central Bureau of Statistics CFUG Community Forest User Group CSO Civil Society Organizations DDC District Development Committee FGD Focus Group Discussion GDP Gross Domestic Product GRB Gender Responsive Budgeting HFOMC Health Facility Operation and Management Committee IPC Integrated Planning Committee KAP Knowledge, Attitude and Practice KDC Kalika Development Center KII Key Informant Interview LGCDP Local Governance and Community Development Program LSGA Local Self Governance Act MOF Ministry of Finance MOFALD Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development MSC Most Significant Change NGO Non-Governmental Organization PNGO Partner Non-Governmental Organization PTA Parent Teacher Association SAC Social Awareness Center SMC School Management Committee VDC Village Development Committee WCF Ward Citizen Forum This baseline study report was prepared by a team of Nepal Evaluation and Assessment Team (NEAT) involving Jeevan Raj Lohani (Principal Researcher), Kalpana BC (Consultant), and Bidhya Dawadi. NEAT team who provided logistics support include: Bikash Acharya, Sunil Paudel, Ramila Bote, Sudha Tripathi, and Swechhya Lakoul. CARE Nepal Team including Ms. Mahendra Laxmi Sharma, Mr. Rishi Bhattarai, and Mr. Mahandanda Paudel provided immense support in the study process. The program coordinators (supervisors) and social mobilizers (surveyors) from KDC, Pyuthan and SAC Nepal Surkhet deserve special acknowledgements for their efforts. Page | 3 Executive Summary Context CARE Nepal places special emphasis on involving poor, vulnerable and socially excluded groups such as women, dalit and marginalized groups in local development processes. ‘Sankalpa’ - collaborative commitment for participatory and gender responsive budget project is being implemented by CARE Nepal in Surkhet and Pyuthan districts of Mid-western region. Sankalpa will work with stakeholders of VDC level planning, budgeting processes to contribute to a more responsive public budgeting system that equally benefits the marginalized section, including women. The project intervenes towards strengthening both demand and supply side of local level planning process. By supporting Village Development Committees (VDC) the project aims at promoting transparency and participatory public budget allocation and expenditure of local bodies. Project actively engages marginalized community groups and civil societies in bottom up planning process to hold the government accountable. The project will work with planning units and processes at ward and VDC level. Sankalpa will work with Citizen Awareness Centers (CAC), Ward Citizen Forums (WCF) and Integrated Planning Committees (IPC) and promote active and meaningful representation and participation of women and marginalized section in these structure and processes of planning. The district and national level advocacy for gender responsive and inclusive budgets is also central to the project which will be initiated through empowerment and coalition building of CSOs. Sankalpa project’s overall goal is to achieve mandated political participation of women in local government and national parliament. In the process to begin the field level implementation of the project, a baseline study of the project was conducted during July of 2014. Objectives and Study Scope The main objective of the baseline study was to assess , measure and document the existing status of the project implementation areas, target beneficiaries, and local/district institutions in terms of project objectives and performance indicators. The specific objectives were to: build qualitative and quantitative base for the project implementation collect information on existing (pre project) scenario of target areas, local bodies/ institutions (VDC), CSOs, target groups, and other stakeholders. contribute and suggest in establishing an appropriate monitoring and evaluation mechanism (with clear indicators and targets) for the project. suggest project implementation based on survey findings. enhance capacity of project officials/partners in collecting the baseline data, and carrying out future monitoring and evaluation activities. Scope of Work and Methodology NEAT used Quasi-Experimental Design with Most Significant Change Components for the baseline study of Sankalpa project. Realizing the need to have scientific measurement of project impact, the baseline study attempts to adopt some principles of randomized evaluation designs. The baseline study collected both quantitative as well as qualitative data. The quantitative tools included: KAP Survey, VDC Information Collection Form, CAC Information Form, and information collection from PNGOs. The KAP Survey was administered with randomly selected 768 households in control (from 12 VDCs where project will not be implemented) and 768 households in the intervention (intervention) areas (from 12 VDCs where project will be implemented during February, 2014- January, 2017). The data was collected from project implemented

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